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I'm sure you've all heard many people say that playing video games are a waste of time (which i agree to some extent). For example just in my personal opinion, i really believe that those games on miniclip, addictive games.com are there to waste time. But if a person's REALLY enjoys spending their time on those games on miniclip, then its completely different.
Everyday we make choices, and we make sacrifices. If we chose to play SC for 1 hour, we're giving that hour up for something else. Now to a spectator that knows nothing about SC, sure that 1 hour might seem wasted, but however to people that have experience with this game a lot would think different.
The person that tells you you're wasting your time trying to rank up on iccup or massing games to practice for cw's is only speaking out of his perspective. He might choose to use that time to watch a movie, to study, to get a job. Those are the things the stereotypical guy would do to tell himself that he's using his time efficiently.
But if we look closer to why in our society things like "Finding a job, studying, workin" is considered "NOT WASTING TIME" you might think different. I'm not saying that people should play SC all day and not find a job or studying or anything, i mean i do think finding a job or working is great. But right now im just viewing this in a different perspective, and perhaps i can get you to do the same.
Our folks always told us that, you do good in elementary school = you get good head start in middle school, and if u do good in that = you get good start in high school, if you do good in highschool= you get in to a good college, and if you get in a good college = you find a job that pays well = ??
SO what happens after you get a job that pays well? Thats right you buy stuff with it. And all the stuff you buy is for you to get a feeling. That feeling can be gotten in many ways, if you look for it. We buy big plasma TV's because the TV brings us a feeling, we buy a luxuries house, because again it brings us a good feeling. And often times we fall into the flow that Money brings in happiness (which somecases is true).
All those luxuries stuff you can buy does bring you happiness. But however if playing SC also brings that happiness then perhaps its not wasting time? After all, we spend all that money for a simple emotion, there's obviously other ways of attaining it.
(Again i'm not trying to tell people to quit their jobs, and throw their books away for SC, i'm just trying to get people to see in a different perspective.)
I think of starcraft sort of as a cheat to get that "good" feeling when i do not have the money to buy for it. Its inexpensive and works pretty well. Obviously if you're homeless can barely afford food, have relationship problems, then you'll have to deal with those fundamentals before SC can be fully enjoyable. 
 
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this is such a hard question to answer. i started writing this post about three times and each time i'd erase it and start over with a completely new (and opposite) angle and in the end i'll be into my second paragraph and thinking "sure there's this aspect of it but what about.." and re-write the whole thing =/. a quick summary then, is in order:
on the one hand i agree with you in the sense that it's not a waste of time if you enjoy it -- doing enjoyable things falls significantly higher on my priority list than striving for a larger paycheque. on the other, and this has something to do with inherent materialistic focus in everyone, looking back on my days of playing a crapload of games, i can't help but think it was a waste because i have nothing (material) to show for it. but then i think of how many things prove that wrong, things that aren't material but definitely worthwhile, so there goes that idea out the window.
in the end i just don't know =/
hell, i still waste time playing dota. i should stop, but if i were to pick something that holds value in the eyes of society, who's to say that holds any value to me? w/e
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every single thing we can do as humans, if there isn't a god, is as pointless as every other single thing. Whatever matters to you is what's important. Being able to look back and say 'I did everything I wanted to do' is the greatest achievement.
It's just very important to strike a balance between things that grip you with interest now and things that you know you will be proud of in the future.
It DOES annoy me when people I know say 'get a life!' when I say I'll be going back to mine to play video games for the night instead of joining them to get drunk and try it on with semi-attractive girls who they can't even hear in a noisy club. If I could be bothered, I would get into relativism and realism and existentialism but I think nah fuck it just let them be cunts and spend 20 quid a night trying to get lucky; wasting just as much time as me except their only achievement is getting venereal disease, whereas mine is 5000 gamer points oh yeah.
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Valhalla18444 Posts
playing this game is a distinct pleasure i find very difficult to replicate by other means. there's lots of stuff that's more fun and more productive, but those things aren't always available, and starcraft has its own brand of enjoyment
i've been at this for many years and i wouldn't call a single moment 'wasted time'
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Reminds me of a story:
The Mexican Fisherman
+ Show Spoiler +
The Mexican fisherman
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, "only a little while."
The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."
The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then?"
The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions.. Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
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Like that story , reminds me of the song in Fallout 'bongo bongo bongo he don't want to leave the congo oh no no no no no'
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On June 01 2009 13:03 HamerD wrote:
Being able to look back and say 'I did everything I wanted to do' is the greatest achievement.
pretty much all there can be to life. You honestly have to stop looking at the capitalist linear "good life" everyone around you tells you to have (study, get a diploma, work all your life, retire) especially if it doesn't make you happy. Sure money kind of dictates the level of life you'll have, but being happy all your life with a lower salary beats being a middle-management worker who hates his job and will most certainly fall into depression in his mid 30's
Edit~
On-topic: if you enjoy playing, then it's a good investment.
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On June 01 2009 13:00 JeeJee wrote:
in the end i just don't know =/
hell, i still waste time playing dota. i should stop, but if i were to pick something that holds value in the eyes of society, who's to say that holds any value to me? w/e
I think those materialistic things can be good or bad if you posses it. The good part is that yeah you'd get a lot of attention (everyone wants attention, there's no hiding to it). But on the other hand all those friends and attention you'd get are from people that only like you for the things you posses.
But the other perspective is that, people tend to generalize a lot, so we general tend to want to get to know people of higher status, and those people show their status with their materilistic things. Then after a while, they would get to know each other more on a personal level than only relate to the stuff each possess.
So i suppose those materialistic things spark interest in people when meeting them, but it can get the wrong type of attention.
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i read in a reader's digest magazine that it was found that playing strategy games increases your IQ and improves your planning and executive function skills that you can apply in other areas of your life. makes sense i suppose, so that adds to your point. on the other hand too much of anything is not good, and sc players have the tendency to get obsessed with the game to an often unhealthy level. discipline perhaps?
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This game is like a love hate thing for me.
Starcraft is beautiful, I mean no one here will deny that. It definitely brings people (and cultures) together and stuff. Watching progaming is great.
However, sometimes ill find myself sitting in my room, smoking a bowl, losing on iccup (and continuing to join games and continue losing) and i've found that the whole day is gone, I feel like shit, and I lost like 600 points in one sit down.
Sometimes I wish I had never found SC, and sometimes it's love.
Also
It's just very important to strike a balance between things that grip you with interest now and things that you know you will be proud of in the future.
Pretty good advice.
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You got the wrong concept there buddy.
They say SC is a waste of time (which I accepted some time ago) because they know it ain't going to help you shit in your future (unless you're planning on going to Korea and becoming the next top progamer). There's always time for everything, but if you spend all your time on that game, then you will be screwed and you will be regretting it hardcore.
The money you get for the well playing job you got is not just so that you can buy shit with it and feel good or something. It is for that to some extent, yes, but it is also so that you can support yourself and your family and be known by others as a responsible, mature, and real person.
I'd hire a hard-working garbage collector a million times over a nerdy gamer anyday.
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Well if SC(or any game for that matter) is a waste of time, then so is watching movies, hanging out with friends, etc.
If you don't have work, don't have any schooling, don't have anything you need to do at that moment then it is basically free time. So therefore you are just using free time. People say video games are a waste of time, but how do people say hanging out with friends or watching movies isn't? You're spending time with others, so what?
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On June 01 2009 13:18 EsX_Raptor wrote:
The money you get for the well playing job you got is not just so that you can buy shit with it and feel good or something. It is for that to some extent, yes, but it is also so that you can support yourself and your family and be known by others as a responsible, mature, and real person.
I fail to understand how your salary defines who you are. Like 2 of my cousins never finished HS and make over 50k a year (which they most of the time spend on ridiculous things like an used G35 which had engine issues barely 2k miles after it was bought lolgg) whereas I make just enough to pay for college/food/rent when I have A/A- in most of my classes t_t
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They are extreme cases then! But I bet you at least 80+% of the people that didn't graduate from HS are either flipping burgers @ McDonalds or doing God knows what.
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>_> I'm 19 I've been in college for...3 years? and the first year is basically wasted because I was majoring in something I didn't like
edit: misread what you wrote lol but yeah I agree diplomas do all the work for you these days t_t
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On June 01 2009 13:18 EsX_Raptor wrote:
You got the wrong concept there buddy.
They say SC is a waste of time (which I accepted some time ago) because they know it ain't going to help you shit in your future (unless you're planning on going to Korea and becoming the next top progamer). There's always time for everything, but if you spend all your time on that game, then you will be screwed and you will be regretting it hardcore.
The money you get for the well playing job you got is not just so that you can buy shit with it and feel good or something. It is for that to some extent, yes, but it is also so that you can support yourself and your family and be known by others as a responsible, mature, and real person.
I'd hire a hard-working garbage collector a million times over a nerdy gamer anyday.
you obviously dont enjoy playing SC anymore.... it doesn't necesarily ruin your future, tho it does have an impact. Then so would watching TV, hanging with friends and all other "fun" activities.
but yah def, if u spend too much on anything its not good... (in general)
When one looks back at their old life, they automatically assume that it was SC that ruined their future. But all those TV hours watched, and all the other things and times wasted can also be a result of not "succeeding" in your terms. No one ever blames it on TV, because everyone does it and its accepted socially.
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Yes and No.
Sure after spent a day playing on iccup I often feel like its been a waste of time and I will probably not have any gain from it in the future, and often I wonder why I bother spending so much time playing a 10 year old computer game.
On the other side, the exact same things can be applied to when I played soccer for 10 years even tho it was clear early that I would never be collecting any paychecks from it and not really have anything to show for from it in the future, beside a better health (tho when I played the time spent playing soccer would probably have been spent doing some other form of physical activity outside anyway had I not played it) and nobody ever suggested it was a waste of time...
Looking back soccer brought me the exact same things that I have gotten from StarCraft lots of good memories and several good friends (a few people in my highschool I met through BW that don`t play anymore have stayed lifelong friends since then and I would probably never have gotten to know without BW). Of course the rest of the online friends are a bit different than the soccer friends since I can`t just hang around with them (Tho most of my soccer friends are scattered around the country by now)
I guess in the end its all about what makes you happy and finding a good balance.
Also that Mexican fisherman story is really great.
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if starcraft makes you happy, it's not a waste of time. Happiness is more important than almost anything society values highly, education, job, money, and the like.
As long as sc makes you happy, its time well spent. Its only a waste of time if, after your hours of sc, you feel worse than when you started.
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Playing games gives you short-term, not long-term, gratification. This is great in moderation, but it is considered a "waste of time" because the happiness is temporary and will quickly disappear if you cannot be successful enough to buy food, a house, etc..
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Yeah it's probably a waste of time. That hour could be used elsewhere. If you enjoy it though it isn't really a waste of time.
Same thing with other games like wc3/wow/whatever.
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EPT
